Major Updates to Google Rank Algorithm: How They Shaped the Entire SEO Industry

The SEO industry has undergone constant evolution in the past decade, with Google leading the charge in enhancing the search experience and refining the quality of search engine results. Throughout this period, Google has rolled out numerous algorithm updates, some of which have had a significant impact on search engine result pages (SERPs) and challenged SEO practitioners to adapt their strategies.

In this article, we’ll explore the major Google updates in chronological order, discussing their targets, working mechanisms, and adjustment strategies.

Here’s a list below, in chronological order :

1. Panda

Release: February 24th, 2011.

Target: * Duplicate, plagiarized content, * Thin content, * User-generated spam, * Keyword stuffing.

How it works: Panda assigns a so-called “quality score” to web pages; this score is then used as a ranking factor. Initially, Panda was a filter rather than part of Google’s ranking algorithm, but in January 2016, it was officially merged into the core algorithm. Panda rollouts have become more frequent, so both penalties and recoveries now happen faster.

How to adjust: Run regular site checks for content duplication, thin content and keyword stuffing. To do that, you’ll need a site crawler. To check for instances of external content duplication, use a plagiarism checker like Copyscape. Whatever is your case (e-Commerce, Blog, Agency website, etc…), you must find a way to make your content unique, in a useful way.

2. Penguin

Release: April 24th, 2012.

Target: * Spammy links or irrelevant links, * Links with an over-optimized anchor text

How it works: Google Penguin’s primary objective is to down-rank sites with manipulative link building. Since late 2016, Penguin has been part of Google’s core algorithm; unlike Panda, it works in real-time. It has followed the trend of search engines trusting more websites with more links pointing to them, and inevitably, the manipulations from the SEO industry (comment links, auto-generated links, links shops, etc…).

How to adjust: Monitor your backlink regularly and run audits with a backlink checker like hrefs or Ubersuggest. Look out for any unusual spikes: Backlinks that you’ve unexpectedly gained could be harmful, so judge each link critically. Check if the domains pointing to yours are completely somehow related to your industry. You may not want them. Links are like a recommendation. You seek recommendations from experts or at least persons qualified enough to judge how relevant you are.

3. Hummingbird

Release: August 22nd, 2013.

Target: * Keyword stuffing, * Low-quality content

How it works: Hummingbird helps Google better interpret search queries. It aims to provide results that are matching the searcher’s intent. This is an important evolution in that it goes beyond just matching with results that contain the individual terms & within the query. Matching keywords is still very important, but Hummingbird makes it possible, in certain cases, for a page to rank for a query even if it doesn’t contain the exact words that were searched for. Hummingbird relies on natural language processing and latent semantic indexing, co-occurring terms and synonyms.

How to adjust: Expand your keyword research and focus on concepts, not only keywords. Research related searches, synonyms, and co-occurring terms. Great sources of such ideas are Google Related Searches and Google Autocomplete. Tools like Ubersuggest can give you some related search terms. Understand your audience’s language better, and create comprehensive content that satisfies searcher intent. Your content will perform both in terms of engagement and SEO. Read also about comprehensiveness in this post below, when we discuss RankBrain.

4. Pigeon

Release: July 24th, 2014 (US); December 22, 2014 (UK, Canada, Australia).

Target: * Local searches, * Local businesses noticed an increase or decrease in web site referrals, leads, and business

How it works: Pigeon affects searches in which the user’s location plays an important part. The objective is to tie the local algorithm closer to the core algorithm, and improved distance and location ranking parameters. The new local search algorithm ties deeper into web search capabilities, including the hundreds of ranking signals used in web search along with search features such as Knowledge Graph, spelling correction, synonyms and more.

How to adjust: Invest effort into on-page and off-page SEO. A good way to start with off-page SEO is to get listed in relevant business directories. Not only do those act like backlinks, helping your site rank; they rank well in Google themselves. Find quality directories and reach out to webmasters asking to get listed.

5. Mobile

Release: April 21st, 2015.

Target: * Lack of a mobile version of the page, * Poor mobile usability, * Bad page responsivity on mobile devices.

How it works: Google’s Mobile Update (aka Mobilegeddon) ensures that mobile-friendly pages rank at the top of mobile search, while pages not optimized for mobile are filtered out from the SERPs or seriously down-ranked.

How to adjust: Go mobile and focus on speed and usability. Google’s mobile-friendly test will help you see which aspects of your page’s mobile version need to be improved. Pay attention to the time it takes to render the first visible content, the size of images, the size of buttons or CTA on mobile, the size of fonts, and the compactness of the text.

6. RankBrain

Release: October 26th, 2015.

Target: * Lack of query-specific relevance features, * Shallow content, * Poor UX.

How it works: RankBrain is part of Google’s Hummingbird algorithm and is a machine learning system. It helps understand the search intent and meaning behind search queries, to serve best-matching search results in the SERP. According to Google, RankBrain was, at the time of its release, the third most important ranking factor. The ins and outs of RankBrain are unknown to the public, but the general opinion is that it identifies relevance features for web pages ranking for a given query, which are query-specific ranking factors.

How to adjust: Optimize content for relevance and comprehensiveness with the help of competitive analysis. Discover relevant terms and concepts used by a large number of your top-ranking competitors: those are a brilliant way to diversify your content and make sure you provide all the information your visitors are looking for.

7. Possum

Release: September 1st, 2016.

Target: * Tense competition in your target location.

How it works: The Possum update ensured that local results account for the searcher’s location: If you are close to a business’s address, you are more likely to see it among local results. Possum also resulted in greater variety among results ranking for very similar queries, like “dentist Chicago ” and “dentist Chicago co.” Surprisingly, Possum also gave a boost to businesses located outside the physical city area.

How to adjust: Expand your keyword list and do location-specific rank tracking. After Possum update (and the volatility Possum brought into the local SERPs), local businesses should be targeting more keywords than they used to. Check your rankings, from your target location (or from a bunch of them).

8. Fred

Release: March 8th, 2017.

Target: * Thin content, * Affiliate-heavy content, * Ad-centered content.

How it works: Fred update targets websites that violate Google’s webmaster guidelines. The majority of affected sites are blogs with low-quality posts seemingly created mostly to generate ad revenue.

How to adjust: Review the Google Search Quality Guidelines and watch out for “thin” content. If you show ads, make sure the pages they are found on are high-quality and offer relevant information. Don’t try to trick Google into thinking your page is about something when it is a gateway page full of affiliate links. Most publishers make money from ads, which is legit as long as they are not cheating.

9. Medic

Release: August 1st, 2018. Target: YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) websites with low expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. How it works: The Medic update primarily affected websites related to health, finance, and other sensitive topics. Google emphasized the importance of expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) for YMYL websites. To adapt, focus on building expertise through high-quality content, authoritative backlinks, and showcasing credentials and qualifications. How to adjust: Improve E-A-T: Enhance your website’s expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Showcase the credentials, qualifications, and expertise of content creators, authors, and contributors. Establish your brand as a reliable and authoritative source by including expert opinions, testimonials, and case studies.

• Quality content creation: Focus on creating high-quality, informative, and accurate content. Ensure that the content is well-researched, up-to-date, and aligns with expert advice and industry standards. Avoid promoting unverified claims or misleading information.
• Backlink profile: Develop a strong and diverse backlink profile from authoritative and trustworthy websites. Seek opportunities to acquire backlinks from reputable sources within your industry. Avoid spammy or low-quality backlinks that can negatively impact your website’s credibility.
• User experience and website design: Provide a seamless user experience with easy navigation, clear layout, and fast loading times. Optimize your website for mobile devices and ensure it is responsive across different screen sizes. Make it easy for users to find the information they need quickly and efficiently.

10. BERT

Release: October 22nd, 2019. Target: Improving language understanding and context in search queries. How it works: BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) utilizes natural language processing to better understand the context and nuances of search queries. It aims to provide more accurate and relevant results. To align with BERT, create content that answers specific user queries and incorporates natural language patterns. How to adjust: Focus on user intent: BERT emphasizes understanding the user’s search intent. Align your content strategy with user needs by creating comprehensive, informative, and relevant content that directly addresses their queries. Optimize for long-tail keywords and conversational phrases to capture the intent behind search queries.

• Contextual relevance: Develop content that incorporates a wide range of related topics and concepts. BERT enables Google to understand the context of search queries better, so make sure your content covers various aspects related to the main topic. Conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant terms and incorporate them naturally in your content.
• Improve readability: Craft content that is easy to read and understand. Break down complex ideas into digestible sections, use headings and bullet points, and write in a conversational tone. Aim for clarity and coherence in your content, ensuring it is accessible to a broad audience.
• Structured data markup: Implement structured data markup to provide additional context and information to search engines. This can enhance the visibility of your content in rich snippets and featured snippets, improving its chances of appearing in search results.

11. May 2020 Core Update

Release: May 4th, 2020. Target: Enhancing search quality and relevance. How it works: The May 2020 Core Update aimed to improve the overall quality and relevance of search results. It brought significant fluctuations in rankings and impacted various industries. Monitor your website’s performance, analyze changes in rankings and organic traffic, and continue delivering high-quality content aligned with user intent.

12. Page Experience Update

Release: June 15th, 2021. Target: User experience and page loading performance. How it works: The Page Experience Update integrates Core Web Vitals (metrics related to page loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability) as ranking factors. Websites that provide a smooth, fast, and engaging user experience are likely to rank higher. Optimize your site’s loading speed, mobile-friendliness, interactivity, and visual stability to meet these criteria.

Wrapping it up!

Google’s major algorithm updates have revolutionized the SEO landscape over the years. Staying updated and adapting to these changes is crucial for SEO practitioners to maintain their website’s visibility and success. By understanding the targets and mechanisms of major Google updates like Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, Pigeon, Mobile, and RankBrain, you can implement effective adjustment strategies.

Here are a few key takeaways:

• Regularly check for content duplication, thin content, and keyword stuffing to ensure content uniqueness and value. Utilize site crawlers and plagiarism checkers to identify and address these issues.
• Monitor backlinks consistently and evaluate their quality. Seek links from reputable domains relevant to your industry to build a strong and natural backlink profile.
• Expand your keyword research beyond exact match keywords. Incorporate related searches, synonyms, and co-occurring terms to optimize content for user intent and improve search rankings.
• Enhance your local search presence by investing in on-page and off-page SEO. Utilize directory listings and optimize your website with localized keywords to improve visibility in local searches.
• Optimize your website for mobile devices by ensuring mobile-friendliness, fast loading times, and responsive design. Use Google’s mobile-friendly test to identify areas for improvement.
• Focus on relevance and comprehensiveness in your content by analyzing top-ranking competitors. Incorporate relevant terms and concepts to diversify your content and provide valuable information to users.
• Prioritize user experience by creating a seamless and engaging website. Consider factors like page load speed, intuitive navigation, and high-quality design.

By implementing these adjustment strategies, you can navigate the ever-changing SEO landscape and optimize your website for improved search rankings and user experience.

Remember, staying informed about the latest Google updates and industry trends is crucial for long-term SEO success. Continuously monitor algorithm changes and adapt your strategies accordingly to stay ahead in the competitive digital landscape.